


Not This Time

by trueviolet1216



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, FT Chapter 428, Fairy Tail Spoilers, Post-Canon, Two Shot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-23 08:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3760747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trueviolet1216/pseuds/trueviolet1216
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm sorry, Lucy" he said somberly, "I'm so sorry". Lucy gritted her teeth and swallowed down the sob that had been building in her throat. "I'm sorry too, Natsu, but sorry isn't gonna cut it this time". Post FT 428.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not This Time

**A/N: This takes place after Chapter 428, cause we don’t know what’s happened to them right now  Gray was being a dick, and Lucy was a badass, and Natsu was well….Natsu (HE IS BAE *.*)**  


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A dreary, cold wind blew in from the magic-enforced and fire-proof barred window, leaving Lucy with a hint of a thought that if it got any colder in her cell, she might develop hypothermia or frostbite, whichever came first. Or at least a mild case of it, considering the Dragon Slayer in the cell to her immediate left was emitting very strong heat that reached even her and brought warmth coursing from her head and down to her freezing toes. Her stomach was still hurting from the beating she’d got from that girl, Mary, as Gray had called her. She really wanted to lie down, but the muscles of her back were aching and she wondered whether her whole body was bruised, because it sure felt like it was.

 _I hope Virgo’s okay_ , she thought, having sent her back to the Celestial Spirit World to rest. The maiden spirit had seemed very excited about the chains, smiling at her and Natsu in a really creepy way that Lucy still had a problem thinking about. Natsu had grinned back at her as she disappeared and Lucy had shaken her head in disbelief. _I swear I’m surrounded by crazy people._

“COME ON! LET US OUT! GRAY! YOU BASTARD, I’M NOT DONE TALKING TO YOU!”, Natsu shouted as he shook the thick iron bars in a rage, his fanged teeth grinding together. Lucy shook her head and turned away from him, realizing that after two hours of yelling and screaming, Gray was not coming. Happy had realized it an hour earlier and had turned away, plopping himself down next to the wall behind them and slept soundly (well, as soundly as he could within a short distance of a screaming mage in the same cell as him). Natsu, always and forever the optimist, kept yelling and shaking the bars as though he could annoy Gray into coming down to talk to them. Lucy had debated earlier on whether or not to join in just to get Gray down here with them to stop his never-ending yelling, but gave up.

“GRRRAAAYYY!!! YOU DROOPY-EYED BASTARD! ANSWER ME!” The headache inducing banging started up again, now accompanying the shaking bars. Lucy really couldn’t take it anymore.

“Give it a rest, Natsu! He’s not coming! STOP IT!” Lucy sighed, feeling hot tears welling up in her eyes as he banged on the bars again. _I don’t wanna give up hope either, but I really don’t want to see what he’s become. That was NOT Gray. That person did NOT seem like my friend._ Lucy wanted their friend back, but after being alone for so long caught up, and the feeling of disappointment that had filled her heart for most of the past year came roaring back.

Everyone left and everyone forgot. _I really have a tendency for losing people close to me, don't I?_ The Fairy Tail guild was no more; that part of her life had been over for a year, when both Natsu and Happy and then the guild itself had dissipated without as much as a “See you later” and “Good luck”. Running away from home, training to become stronger, running into a crazy pink-haired Dragon Slayer and talking blue cat in Hargeon, joining the guild of her dreams…Had it all been for nothing? Had it been a waste? _NO. No, it hadn’t been a waste._ She was glad she had gotten to meet everyone and develop friendships she would cherish having for the rest of her life, but the hole in her heart that she had fought so hard to close this past year had reopened the moment she saw Natsu again in that melted arena. _It hurts. Everything about seeing him again hurts. Seeing Gray again and seeing the way he is now hurts too. But why does it hurt more with HIM?_ Maybe it was because he was more important than anyone else, and he _still_ left. Lucy felt awful for putting him above everyone else, on a pedestal, but if she was being honest with herself in that cold, dark cell she was going to be VERY honest with herself. _It’s not like he can read minds. I can think about whatever I want._

Lucy uncrossed her stiff legs and huffed as she turned back towards Natsu, extending her hands through the bars trying to reach him and use his heat to warm up again. Before she could call him over, Natsu suddenly turned his body towards her and in a very un-Natsuish move, took her freezing hands in his and rubbed his thumbs across her skin warming her in an instant. Lucy could feel her entire body heat up, and it wasn’t from his radiator hands but from somewhere inside her, that made her think of all those romance novels she, Levy and Erza had gushed over at the guild. _Stupid hormones, I hate your guts. Please go away, very far away._

 _It hadn’t been like this before Tenrou Island_ , she realized. Sure, she had admired him before all that, his personality (her ideal guy was assertive for a reason) and his body (because what healthy, hormonal girl wouldn’t admire _THAT_ physique?); but why did it feel so different after Tenrou? Why had she felt the need to let him know she believed in him before his fight with Sting and Rogue, her cheeks burning much like now? His eyes had crinkled up at the corners as he smiled sweetly and thanked her, his wide grin making her feel things deep inside herself that were certainly NOT from the medicine Porlyusica had given her. _Was it normal to feel this queasy? I’ve been around boys before, but why in the world does he affect me differently? Him and his stupid pink hair and his stupid sunshine grin. Don’t be ridiculous, Lucy_ , she thought, _you KNOW why! You’ve always known why!_

“Lucy? I’m sorry. I’m so sorry”, breaking her away from her thoughts, his warm voice filling her up like warm hot chocolate. He tried to meet her eyes as he spoke, but she kept her eyes fixed on their joined hands. Lucy shivered, and licked her dry lips before answering, “For what? For dragging me here? I hate to break this to you, but coming with you was my decision”. The rough callouses on his hands were making her mind go hazy, his fingers still massaging warmth into her now semi-warm hands.

“No--Well yes, but--I’m sorry for leaving. I’m sorry for just leaving the letter; I thought that if I saw you face to face I wouldn’t wanna leave, ya know? And I needed to leave...”, his words trailed off and he scratched behind his ear, a nervous tick she’d always noticed he had.

“Now? You wanna talk about this now? Really?” Lucy sighed in disbelief, but despite her anxiousness kept her hands in his. _He’s always so warm_ , she thought. As she did, she looked up and really did meet his eyes. Wide green eyes that always had the power to make her do anything, feel everything, and want everything. Things she shouldn’t really be feeling towards a guildma—ex-guildmate. His eyes twinkled in _that_ way, a way that had become so familiar to her, it was scary.

“Well, we are kinda locked in a dungeon. And Gray is being a bastard. And I won’t leave until we talk to him”, he said, nodding to himself, making up his mind right then and there.

“We’re gonna talk to him?” Lucy asked, feeling anxiety bubbling up in her. They had tried that approach, with a few kicks, punches, and slaps and it hadn’t worked.

“Well, _I_ can _talk_ to him, and maybe _you_ can slap him around again. That might do the trick!” he grinned her, proud of his flawless plan to talk to their friend. _Oh, it’s always violence with him_ , she thought tenderly, _it’s like he can’t help himself_.

“Oh no, I think you mean _I’ll_ talk to him, and _you’ll_ slap him around A LOT?” Lucy said, grinning back at him, the heaviness in her chest forgotten, switching their planned roles around; Natsu wanting to talk things out was really bizarre, but it wasn’t as though she didn’t want to slap Gray again for being dumb.

“Okay, fine, I’ll slap him around, and you can talk to him. Someone needs to make him see that we don’t abandon our own. Fairy Tail is family. Always has been, and it always will be”, he motioned his head towards her and then at Happy, who was still curled up against the wall, his small chest moving in equal intervals, letting them know he still slept soundly.

His words sent an ice-cold feeling down her back, but not from the wind. The joking grin on her face diminished and she felt a thick feeling in her throat, like Aries’ thick pink wool was stopping her from speaking. He noticed her humorless face, and when she didn’t answer immediately with her agreement, tilted his head in that trademark confused way of his.

“Oh. Well that’s rich, coming from you”, she heard herself say, repeating her own words from a couple of days ago, the feeling in her throat lessening slightly. His warm hands didn’t feel very warm anymore, and she untangled her fingers from his; and as she slid her hands away, she felt the hole inside her chest grow bigger. Backing away towards the opposite wall, she made the mistake of looking up at him and winced at the look on his face. The most hurt and remorseful look had plastered itself on it at her biting words, and she felt a small ping of regret before the rage came bubbling back full force, just as it had for a small moment when he had found her in Crocus and again in Juvia’s house.

Glaring at him, she steeled herself and spoke the angry and bitter words she had been holding back for an entire year.  


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**A/N: This is the end of Chapter 1. I’ve decided to make this a two-shot. So stay tuned for the second part  I hope you enjoyed it. I just have a lot of feelings regarding their relationship after him leaving, and the guild disbanding (cause I don’t think either of them took those things very well). Hopefully they actually talk things out in the manga, ‘because they really need it. It’s like Natsu expects everything to just go back to normal, but Lucy knows they can’t  and I can’t with my feels guys! I CAN’T!**


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